the snow keeps coming

It has been snowing for almost a week now. It hasn't been snowing straight though, which is a very good thing. When the temp was -15 for a couple days it didn't snow at all. It has been snowing pretty much every day since Thanksgiving now. Here are some more pix from our winter wonderland!

Holiday traditions

I grew up in a home where we did the same thing every year for ALL holidays. I can tell you the menu from appetizers, sides, main dishes, and desserts without missing a single item. Don't get me wrong I would eat my way through every course and item (except the oyster stuffing and green bean casserole). I love food and you can't go wrong when you mix comfort food and a room full of cousins.

The "children" all had to sit in the kitchen and use the not so nice flatware, dishes, and glasses. As we would sit and eat we would joke with one another and frequently have belching contests. Sometimes these contests would be echoed by an uncle at the "adult" table. This would almost always be followed by a woman's voice saying to mind our manners, to which the general reply was giggles and more belching. I think if I were still in the Midwest with my family that the routine would be the same, even though most of my cousins have kids of their own and should be sitting at the "grown-up" table.

As I look back on our traditions I am pleased to say that the food really did bring us together. The food was a constant and still is, if I were to go home for Thanksgiving(or any other holiday) I would know exactly what to expect. The food and those moments around the table is what brought my extended family together and created a bond that exists to this day. We may have our own lives and families but due to our traditions no matter where we are we can call on one another for whatever we may need at that moment in our lives.

Here is wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving and Holiday season. May your traditions bring you not only to the table but closer to one another!

winter...the old man has arrived

This week we got the first real snow of the season. We had recieved a light dusting a few weeks ago but nothing stuck. Tuesday it STUCK!!!! YUCK!!! I am so NOT ready for this time of year to be here. Where I am in Montana we joke that there is almost always snow on Halloween and it makes costuming kids dificult (this year we were lucky). Snow can then last easily till May and sometimes even June. Heck the first year I lived her we got a HUGE storm the weekend of June 8th. I should have known then to move to someplace civilized where snow doesn't last more then six months out of the year, but I'm stuborn so I stayed.

Award #2

I keep forgetting to thank Maggie at Do these shoes match this purse? for this fabulous blog award the "Pass the Baton of Friendship."

As with many blog awards, it comes with "requirements." The obvious one is I have to display the award.

Next, I have to answer these questions:

1 - too small when you were asked, what you wanted to do when you were big; What did you reply?
2 - What were your favorite cartoons?
3 - What were your favorite games?
4 - What year was your nicest birthday and why?
5 - What were the things you absolutely wanted to do, and not yet done?
6 - Which 'was your first love? sports? or what not?
7 - Which was your first musical idol?
8 - Which was the most' beautiful sought (and eventually received), Santa Claus, Jesus' Child, Saint Lucia, Christmas gift?

1-Like all little girls I really wanted to be a veterinarian. I also had a desire to be a model as I got a little older and began to tower over the boys.

2- I loved Care Bears, Snorks, and Shirt Tails.

3- I was an outside kid so most of the games I played were with my neighbors or bother and sister. We played freeze tag, princess and the pirates (the pirate was usually Italian with blue eyes), corn war (this involved going to the field getting corn plucking it from the cob filling and bucket and then throwing it at each other), I also played a lot of baseball and softball.

4- I was only allowed large parties on milestone birthdays. On my 16th a friend of mine who's birthday was exactly a month earlier and I decided to through a party at her parents house. We got our friends band to play for us for free, had all kinds of food, water games (our birthday are in the middle of summer), and bonfire. We had an amazing birthday!!

5- I be a parent (probably not to my own children but to kids in foster care or even adopting a child or two that need a family). Go to Croatia

6- Looking back I'm really not sure what my first love was. I know that I loved to take long walks and be by myself and loved praise and knowing that I was important and loved by others.

7- Music idol was probably Pink Floyd. I had never heard anything like them till I was a freshman in high school. When I had a friend play and sign "I wish you were here" I was hooked!

8- As a child I likely would have said some toy that I received was the best gift ever. Looking back though I would have to say that the handmade toys that my dad gave were the best. I was always hard on my toys but somehow I still have all the things my father made from the wooden hammer, the pull toys, the heart shaped crayon holder, the three legged stool, and best of all the doll cradle with my name carved into it.

Now I should pass it on to 10 people but I don't know 10 people that blog so if you read this and want an award then you can have it as a thank you for reading!!!!

just over a year

It has been just over a year since Chef was diagnosed with M.S. I think it has taken me every minute of that year to start to comes to terms with this new reality. There are still days that I struggle with knowing that our future won't be the same one that we had dreamed of 8 years ago. I however have made the decision to not use the what-ifs as a crutch but as motivation. I've learned that I need to be stronger then I ever thought I was, that I do have the strength to handle this situation, and that this WILL make us stronger as a couple. I have also put a lot of thought into the future and what I can do to shape it for us. This has motivated me to begin exploring masters degrees and ways to increase my earning potential to be able to support us and to maintain the lifestyle that we want as Chef becomes less able to work. With the process of looking at masters degrees I have also realized that this is something that I REALLY want, not just something that I have to have. I am actually thankful for the motivation that his M.S. has given me. I would have never thought that I would say that I am thankful to have M.S. in my life but I am. Without his diagnosis I would have likely been content to work whatever social work job came my way or even to stay where I am forever. I now hope to have a masters in 2-3 years and be working to forge a better future for both of us.

travels

I live in an amazing place. Not many people get the changes to make it to my neck of the woods in their life times. That being said I am going to beginning sharing some of our travels with you. I have the honor of living just 30 minutes from Glacier National Park, I have also had the privalge of spending a summer of my life working and living in the park. Along with living so close to the park we are souronded by national and or state forests. We also live just 20 minutes north of the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississipi River. I also hope that by sharing my past and presant adventures with you it will also movitate me to get out there more and experiance all that this area has to offer. I might not always have a story to tell about a place and you might just get a picture of a spot I have visited and a little discription of about the spot but at least you will get to see a little of Montana and the sourounding northwest.

Dog Dog

As soon as we decided to buy a house four years ago I began talking about getting a dog. Chef kept telling me no, but since when do I listen when he says no. Thanksgiving of that year I was at my best friend's family's place for Thanksgiving dinner. Her dog(female) was there along with her dad's dog(male). She thought that her dog MIGHT be in heat but really wasn't sure. Just a few weeks later it was determined that yes she had been in heat and was now pregnant. I immediately said I wanted a pup, Chef's opinion didn't matter. Her dad's dog is a beautiful miniature Australian Shepard. Her dog was pure mutt but still cute. I had had a little experience with Aussies and new they were great dogs so I jumped at the chance to have a suedo one for free.
Chef and I were there the night Zephyr was born. Lucy had six puppies, if I remember correctly. She had her last puppy as she was trying to run away from the commotion that we were causing with the already born babies (we had thought that she was done birthing but we were so wrong). The last puppy was born while she was standing and landed hard on the hard word floor. I immediately pick out the puppy that I wanted. Temperament didn't matter I was all about looks and wanting a male.


I would go to the house at least once a week to visit my puppy. About 2 weeks in my friend and her sister were giving me a different dog telling me that that one was mine. He was very cute and very similar to the dog that I had chosen. So I went along with it and that was then my dog. The puppy that I had originally chosen was the last to get a home and I have wondered for the last three years what happened to him. I brought Zephyr home at six weeks I had wanted him to stay with his mom for at least eight but she had been sick and had a pretty bad infection so that had to keep her away from the puppies anyway.


Now three years later I don't have a miniature Aussie. I have a 60 pound beast. He can play Frisbee like a champ. He loves to go on runs and hikes. However he never seems to really tire. He has so much personality. He is demanding and spoiled. He has an amazing memory. He knows all his toys by name and can get the one you tell him to even if it's in another room. The other day we went to his 1st home, where he was born, I told him we were going to see my friend and her son. We however weren't able to leave right away so he CRIED for the next hour while we got ready. He is truly an amazing dog. We do at times think he was the puppy the was birthed onto the hardwood. We love him greatly though and I don't know what I would do without him. Chef even loves him and I continually tease him about the fact that he didn't want me to get a dog!